Vending machine for paper products



y 1935- G. CARRUTHERS 2,007,035

VENDING MACHINE FOR PAPER PRODUCTS I' 'iled March 24, 1955 I'm 22h tor. Georye (arruflerm Patented July 2, 1935 George Carruthers,

Toronto, Ontario, Canada,

assignor to Intel-lake Tissue Mills 00. Limited, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Application March 24, 1933',

g 4 Claims. (01. 312-56) engages or overlaps a laterally turned flange or i The principal objects of this invention are, to

provide a cabinet for containing a quantity of individual packets, preferably of paper goods, and having means for dispensing such goods in an eifectivemanner one at a time.

A further object is to dev1se a simple form of mechanism which will not be liable to get out of order;

The principal features of the invention consist in the novel construction and arrangement of a slidable member having means forprojecting through aplatform for engaging the lowermost of a stack'of packets and separating same from said stack and discharging the separated member from the cabinet In the drawing, Figure 1 is a perspective View of a cabinet having the present invention incorporated therein, parts thereof being broken away.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of a bottom portion of a cabinet illustrating the means for ejecting the packets therefrom. 1

igure 3 is an enlarged plan detail of the discharging mechanism.

Figure 4 is an enlarged elevational detail of the discharging mechanism;

Figure 5 isan elevational and part sectional detail showing the coin chutes.

The present invention has been devised particularlyfor the purpose of dispensing folded packets of paper articles, such as toilet seat covers,'but it may be adapted for use in the dispensing of other forms of packets.

The cabinet I is in the form of a shallow case of a width and depthto house a stack of the packets 2 to be dispensed.

A platform 3 is secured short distance ab within the cabinet 9. ove the bottom and is preferably formed of a sheet of metal, at one end of which are provided a plurality of narrow longitudinal slots 4. I

A transverse slot 5 is formed in the side wall 6 of the cabinet, the bottom of which is in alignment with the top of the platform 3. This slot is of slightly greater depth than the thickness. of the individual packets and is adapted to allow the packets to be discharged from the casingone at a time.

A movable plate I is arranged on the outer side of the cabinet below the slot 5 and it is preferably provided with an upwardly slanting rib 8 ,at its upper end which directs the en'd'of the packet being projected through the slot, in a slightly upward direction so also extends upwardly substangrasped and it tially the full dep that it may be readily th of the, slot 5 andsubstantially Serial No. 662,547

rib 9 at the top of the slot, thus effectively closing the slot'to prevent the unauthorized removal of the packets from the cabinet.

' The plate l is mounted upon'a pair of slidable I rods l which extend through the cabinet "wall immediately below the slot, said rods'being connected in the form of a looped handle;v

The rods extend substantially the full width 'of the cabinet and have rigidly secured to their inner ends a plate 42. This plate'is provided with a centrally disposed hole l3' and on the outer side of the plate is secured a plate l4 formed with flanged edges I forming a pocket.

The plate M is provided with a hole coinciding with the hole 13.

The platform 3 is formed with a downturned end it; which is provided with a pair of pins ll which extend below the pocketformed by the plate It. Thesepins'are spaced apart a distance slightly less than the diameterof the coin which is to effectively operate the device and hold the coin in alignment between the holes l3 and l5, but the; said pins are spaced apart a suflicient distance to allow a smaller coin to pass therebetween.- V

A-coin chute I8 is arranged above'the pocket member formedby the plates l4 and i2 and is provided withanopening l9 intowhich the coins are inserted. j

'A'chute 21) is arranged below the coin pocket to receive any undersized coins which may pass 'therethrough and direct them outwardly to a pocket 2|. g

On the underside ofthe platform 3 are arranged twopairs of guide flanges 22 andaplate 23' is slidably arranged between these flanges; I Aslot 24 extends longitudinally of the" plate 2 5 secured in the-platform 3 ex- 23 and fla bolt 7 tends through said slot.

of the spindle 29 and extends downwardly therefrom and to the lowerend of this arm isfsecured a rod 32 which extends horizontally beneaththe plate 23 and is slidably supported by a downturned lug 33 on the end of the plate adjacent to the coin holder.

Stop collars 34 and 35 are mounted on the rod 32 to engage the lug 33. at predetermined points in the sliding movement of the rod 32 therein.

The inner end of the rod 32 is supported by the lug 33 in alignment with the holes I 3 and IS in the coin pocket and upon the movement of the coin pocket and by the forward sliding operation of the rods I a coin resting on the pins I! in the pocket is moved into engagement with the end of the rod 32 and is held there by the pressure against the rod so that the rod moves forwardly to bring the collar 35 into contact with the lug 33 and simultaneously it swings the arm 3| and spindle 29 so that the ends of the pins 30 project upwardly through the slots in the platform. By adjusting the position of the stop collars 34-35 on the rod 32 the degree of swinging of the spindle 29 and the eifective elevation of the points of the pins 30 above the upper level of the platform 3 may be accurately determined.

The coincident engagement of the collar 35 with the lug 33 of the sliding plate 23 causes the plate 23 to be moved forward, and the pins 39 impale the lower packet 2 within the cabinet and in their outward movement they push the packet through the slot in the side wall of the cabinet. The plate 1 with its upwardly turned lip being secured to the rods It! moves outwardly with said rods and opens the slot in advance of the movement of the packet. The end of the packet is thus drawn outward clear of the cabinet and may be grasped by the person desiring the same.

Immediately upon the completion of the outward movement of the handle I0 and the projecting of the end of the packet through the slot in the cabinet wall, the handle is released and through the pressure of a compression spring 36 encircling one of the rods ID the plate 23 is moved backwardly.

The engagement of the downturned lug at the end of the plate 23 with the collar 35 draws the rod 32 back with it and coincidently swings the arm 3| on its pivot drawing the pins 30 downwardly clear of the packet.

The inward movement of the rods carries with them the plate 1 and the upturned lip 8 thereof turns the end of the packet upwardly to enable the ready grasping of same with the finger and thumb and the packet may then be withdrawn from the cabinet.

In order that the packets may be held in close contact with the platform 3 a weight 31 is arranged to rest upon the top of the pile of packets. This weight is preferably provided with a plurality of grooves 38 which thus prevent contact with the points of the pins 30 when the last of the packets is withdrawn.

The weight is provided with a tongue 39 extending across the cabinet and the ends thereof engage a vertical rod 40 which acts as a guide for the weight and also for the packets.

The front of the packet is closed by means of a door 4| hinged at the bottom and a pair of guide wires" are preferably arranged on the inner face of the door to guide the packets in their vertical movement. The arrangement of guide rods such as described prevents the packets from sticking against the inner walls of the cabinet.

A device such as described is extremely simple and it lends itself readily to many uses.

The coin device may be made to operate with a penny or a nickel, but if a smaller coin such as a dime is placed therein it will be returned to the person inserting it, or if arranged for a nickel and a penny is inserted, it also will be returned.

When the proper coin is inserted, by pulling outwardly on the handle the rods l0 operate the sliding plate so that the pins thereof engage the lower packet and project it from the casing so that it may be grasped between the finger and thumb and be withdrawn. The horizontal movement of the discharge plate moves the coin out of alignment with the coin chutes and upon the release of the tension on the rods iii the coin is released and it drops into the bottom of the casing where it is retained.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A vending machine comprising a casing having a slotted platform adjacent to the bottom for supporting stacked articles to be dispensed, and an opening in the side wall opposite said platform, a plate reciprocably mounted on the underside of said platform having a downturned lug at one end, means mounted on the other end of said reciprocable plate adapted to extend up through the slots in the platform, a rod extending from the lug of said movable plate and operatively connected with said latter means, a pair of rods slidably arranged one at each side of said plate and having an extension beyond the casing, and a plate rigidly mounted on said pair of rods and having an opening therein in alignment with the central rod and adapted to be operatively connected with said central rod.

2. A coin controlled vending machine comprising a casing having a slotted article supporting platform adjacent to the bottom for supporting stacked articles to be dispensed, and an opening in the side wall opposite said platform, a plate slidably mounted on the underside of said platform and having one end thereof turned downwardly, a U-shaped rod having its looped end outside of the casing and the inner ends slidably engaging the downturned portion of said plate, a plate rigidly secured to the ends of said looped rod, a rod supported in the downturned end of said slidable plate and adapted to be operatively connected with said plate of the looped rod and having stops thereon adapted to engage and operate said slidable plate, spring means for returning said slidably mounted plate following its operation by the movement of said looped rod, and means secured to said slidably mounted plate extending through the slotted platform for engaging and moving an article resting on said platform.

3. A vending machine comprising a casing having a slotted platform at the bottom for supporting the stacked articles to be dispensed and an opening in the side wall opposite said platform, a member reciprocably mounted on the underside of said platform, a spindle extending transversely of said reciprocable member and rotatable thereon, article-gripping pins mounted in said spindle and extensible upwardly through the slotted platform on the rotation of said spin dle, means for operating said reciprocable member, and means actuated by said operating means in advance of said reciprocable member to rotate the spindle thereon and thereby displace said pins upwardly through the slotted platform prior ,to the commencement of movement of said reciprocable member, said latter means comprising .a rod reciprocable adjacent said reciprocable member and engageable therewith to reciprocate member, and means actuated by said operating means in advance of said reciprocable member to rotate the spindle thereon and displace said pins upwardly through the slotted platform prior to the commencement of movement of said reciprocable member, said latter means comprising a rod reciprocable adjacent said reciprocable member and having adjustable stop means for engagement with the reciprocable member after a predetermined movement to displace the same whereby an accurate adjustment of the degree of rotation of the spindle prior to the movement of the reciprocable member is permitted.

GEORGE 'CARRUTHERS. 

